Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017 – ELCA

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb.

So begins the Easter story in the Gospel according to Matthew.

The women had lived through the pain of Friday and
the emptiness of Saturday and were expecting death.
All of their hope had come to a dead end.

And just then, as the first day of the week was dawning,
hope was restored. The angel said, “Do not be afraid;
I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here: for he has been raised, as he said.”

Instead of death – life. Instead of the end – the beginning.

On Easter, we will have glorious celebrations in our congregations
and worshiping communities. There will be rejoicing and music
and flowers and alleluias. And that’s a good thing.

But when the flowers fade and the pressures of life seem so heavy,
when the brokenness of this world breaks our spirits,
when we have come to a dead end … rejoice. Because it is exactly
there where the risen Christ meets us. It is precisely there where we
are given resurrection life. It is at that point that we say, Christ is risen.